


Ralph Dibny, PI

by Write_To_You



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Banter, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Flirting, Humor, IDK Why The Tag Is Sue Dibny Not Sue Dearbon, Mystery, Or Stopping Crime Really, Partners in Crime, Plot Twists, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24555163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Write_To_You/pseuds/Write_To_You
Summary: Ralph gets tangled up in a mess of a mystery, complete with drug cartels, guns, and kidnappings. Then again, what should he expect when Sue Dearbon comes to him for help?
Relationships: Ralph Dibny/Sue Dibny, Sue Dearbon/Ralph Dibny
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Sue Dearbon

**Author's Note:**

> Can we just have a spinoff show called Ralph Dibny, PI where it's basically Ralph and Sue's antics in 45 minute chunks because that’d be the best thing ever ok thanks. 
> 
> Seriously, though, these two are ADORABLE. I'm pretty hyped for the next season of the Flash when we (theoretically) get to see more of them.

_‘It had been a long day for Ralph Dibny, PI. The streets were frozen with a stiff Winter wind and the sky was overcast with ominous clouds. The citizens of Central City were being smart, sticking inside on this dreary day._

_In truth, every day had been dreary for me since I let Sue Dearbon slip through my grasp. Sue was an eel, but I had thought I had my strongest hooks at the ready to catch her. It turned out that that wasn’t true, and it’s a reality that I’ve had to cope with for many weeks._

_I’m getting close again, though. My field of vision is narrowing like a tunnel with perspective; closing in on one Sue Dearbon. And when I get her, I’ll’_

Ralph stopped writing in his diary ( _journal_ , it was a _journal_ ), partially because he wasn’t sure how to finish his sentence and mostly because there had been a knock at the door. 

“It’s open,” he called warily, trapping his pencil in between the two halves of his journal and placing it on his desk. 

The door swung open. “Hey Slick,” said Sue Dearbon herself, flicking her hair back and putting her hands on her hips. “Miss me much?”

She was wearing black combat boots, black skinny jeans, a black cold-shoulder top and a black choker. Ralph struggled to reign in his shock. “Sue you’re- you- what’re you doing here?”

Sue shrugged, walking over to his waiting-room couch and slipping herself down onto it. Ralph got to his feet and strode around his desk to stand in front of her. “I could bring you in,” he said. “Right now. For thievery at the very least.”

“You could,” Sue allowed. “But that’d be dull. Besides, don’t you want to hear why I’m here?”

Ralph crossed his arms, and possibly, _maybe_ used his cellular-bending abilities to make his bicep muscles a bit more pronounced. 

“You’re not saying no.....” Sue prompted, starting to grin. “So I’m going to take that as a yes.” She patted the couch beside her, smiling invitingly up at him. “Come and sit, Slick. Let me tell you a story.”

“Okay, _mom_ ,” Ralph replied with a roll of his eyes, taking a careful seat next to Sue and waiting with raised eyebrows. “Tell me a story, then.”

“This story starts about a week ago,” Sue began, “when I unknowingly stumbled upon a drug cartel doing business. In my defense, I was just there to camp out a night in the warehouse they had decided to meet in, so technically _they_ interrupted _me_ , not the other way around.” She paused, considering. “You know, they should consider putting black market sign up sheets for those warehouses. Their numbers are dwindling with the amount that have been exploded since bad guys decided to use them as their number one hide out.”

Ralph coughed.

“Right. Drug cartel.” Sue reached up and rubbed at her eye, fixed her bangs, and went on. “So, these beefy guys -and maybe some ladies too; it’s so hard to tell with these gang people- caught sight of me, and by the time I could turn tail and run they had seen my face. They all started yelling and shooting and I just _barely_ managed to make it out of the warehouse alive.” 

She reached into the bag that she’d placed beside the couch when she sat down and pulled out a sweater. Ralph peered forward, squinting a little, and spotted a dime-sized hole in the fabric. 

“My proof,” Sue explained. “Thankfully I was wearing a loose sweater, so the bullet just went through the fabric and grazed me.”

“Grazed you?” Ralph asked, his face darkening with fairly unwanted concern. He reached for the hem of her shirt. “If you’re hurt you should let me look at it-”

Sue slapped his hands away. “Handsy handsy _handsy_!” she scolded, shaking her head at him. “Really Slick, I expected more of you. You can’t just take a girl’s shirt off in the middle of an office. Even if it _is_ your office.”

Ralph made a face and pulled back, crossing his arms again. “I wasn’t going to take your shirt off,” he mumbled. “I was just going to see if you needed medical attention.”

“What, you got a med kit lying around a _detective's_ office?” Sue asked incredulously.

Ralph looked peeved. “Superhero, remember?” he told her, gesturing at himself. “Besides, my best friend is a doctor. Well... her human other-half is a doctor.”

“Human other-?” Sue stopped talking and shook her head. “Never mind. Sometimes I forget that your life is _really_ trippy.”

“Me too,” Ralph sighed. “Anyway: drug cartel. Go on.”

Sue nodded. “So, I got out of the warehouse and thought I was free, right? Wrong. Three days later I was pulled into an alley by the same guys who I saw making the drug deal. I fought my way out amidst the shooting....” She pulled another article of clothing out of her bag, this one a sweatshirt. Once again, Ralph saw a distinct bullet hole through the fabric. “But it was another close call.”

“Why not call the cops?” Ralph asked. “You could get those guys arrested and they’d stop bothering you.”

“Call the _cops_?” Sue asked, incredulous. “Are you kidding me, Slick? I don’t want to be anywhere near the cops. Which... is why I’m here. I need someone to get those guys in jail. And I need.... protection, so to speak. Somewhere to rest my little brunette head where I won’t have to worry about waking up with a bullet hole in my chest.”

Ralph held up his hands. “Let’s be real here,” he said. “If you had a bullet hole in your chest you probably wouldn’t wake up.”

Sue raised her eyebrow at him and he sighed. “Which is all the more reason why you need my help, huh?”

“I don’t need your _help_ ,” Sue scoffed. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”

It was Ralph’s turn to raise an eyebrow, and he did, extra-high because that was something stretching let him do. 

“Fine,” Sue relented. “I need your help. You gonna give it to me? Because that was pretty dang hard to admit and I’m not going to admit it to anyone else.”

“Oh, so there are others in your life, huh?” Ralph teased. “You have a long list of private-detective-superheroes that you can call on to come to your aid and get you out of your own mess?”

Sue looked unamused. “Yes, or no?” she demanded. “You gonna help me, or are you going to throw me out on the street and let me die?”

“Well when you put it that way of course I’ll help you,” Ralph grumbled. “I wouldn’t be much of a superhero if I let an innocent- well..... you’re not really innocent. I  
if I let a someone go back into a dangerous situation when I could have helped.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Sue agreed, getting to her feet. “So where’s your place? I need a shower and a change of clothes and we need to make a plan on how we’re going to nab these guys.”

**W / T \ Y**

_‘Things have certainly turned around for Ralph Dibny, PI. One minute, I was trapped in my office by what was more a cage around my heart than one around my body; the next, I’m set lose into the person who made my cage in the first place._

_Of course, there’s no way for me to know if I should trust Sue Dearbon. She is, as I said earlier, an eel of the slipperiest kind and with a complicated, un-trackable migratory pattern. She’s played me for my superhero morals before.... there’s no doubt that she could do it again. So why is she in my house, ready to lead me down another treacherous slope of dubious legality?_

_Because she’s Sue Dearbon, of course. And, try as I might, I just can’t say no to her.’_

Ralph closed his journal at the sound of footsteps in the hallway and glanced up in time to see Sue walking into his living room. She was wrapped in one of his 5-dollar towels, which was about the size of two large napkins at best, and her hair was still dripping. 

He was speechless. It wasn’t just the endless stretch of toned legs poking out from the hem of the towel or the muscle definition in her smooth, pale, surprisingly freckled shoulders. It wasn’t just the light flush to her cheeks from the heat of her recent shower, or the wet tendril of hair that stuck to her forehead that was just _begging_ to be brushed aside by someone (him. By him, definitely him). 

No, it was the way she was watching him with a completely open, relaxed gaze, like she hadn’t been running from him for months and it was a completely normal thing that she would be showering in his apartment and walking into his living room dressed only in a towel.

“I don’t have clothes,” Sue said. “I need them. Or I don’t think that we’ll be able to plan anything because clearly you can’t function when I’m this scantily clad.”

Ralph made a face. “Way to ruin the moment,” he muttered, walking past her into his bedroom. “I don’t have any clothes for women in here,” he called over his shoulder. “I don’t think any of my pants will fit you.”

“Just get me the biggest shirt you’ve got and one of those belts. We’ll make something work,” Sue instructed, leaning across the doorframe of his bedroom.

The towel was riding up at the bottom- not that it had very far left to go. Ralph looked steadfastly away and tossed her the clothing she’d requested.

Sue moseyed back into the bathroom and when she came out she was dressed in a checkered collared shirt that managed to fall all the way down to mid-thigh, the middle belted loosely to form a sort of tunic-dress. Ralph felt a surge of protectiveness that was almost certainly cliché, but honestly- how had he never realized she was this small? He knew he was more torso than legs but his shirt _dwarfed_ her. 

“What?” Sue snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked annoyed, but Ralph wondered if she was really just using that to cover up her self-consciousness. 

“Nothing,” Ralph said quickly, floundering a little. He realized his jaw had dropped and quickly closed his mouth, turning towards the living room with a sense of purpose. “We should probably.... plan.”

“Right,” Sue said, following him into the living room and perching herself on his futon. Oh thank _God_ he had gotten a new one recently- the original Dibny Futon really was a horror. “So... the plan. Any ideas?”

“I’ve been brainstorming a little,” Ralph said. “The only thing I can think of is we use you as bait. I mean, what else do we have in connection to these guys? You saw them at a warehouse but you probably couldn’t get their faces good enough for facial recognition.”

Sue reached for a notebook and pen he had lying on the coffee table and pulled it into her lap. She uncapped the pen and raised her eyebrow at him to keep going.

“So, you don’t have their faces. You don’t have their names. You don’t know what gang they’re apart of. You don’t know their plans, and you don’t know where they’ll hit next. So the only thing we have is you. They clearly want to get rid of you because you are probably one of the only living people who knows what they’re up to, so if we use you as bait they’ll come running and bam! We’ve got our guys.”

Sue nodded absently. “So, what? Drop me in an alley and hope they happen to mosey along? This is a big city, Slick. I don’t even know how they found me last time.”

“Well, do you have any ideas?” Ralph asked with a deep sigh, already getting used to her habit of shutting down his ideas even after only a few hours of being reunited.

Sue flipped the notepad over. On the paper, drawn rough but realistic, was the face of a heavy man with a thick neck and deep set eyes. 

Sue smiled at the expression on Ralph’s face. “How good would you say that facial recognition is?”

**W / T \ Y**

_‘It’s an interesting phenomenon to be working with the woman I’ve spent the last year-plus trying to find. I suppose it is true that a bug is less likely to fly into a spider’s web when she knows it’s there... but if she wants to she can still make a 10-point landing._

_Sue raided Caitlin’s adult-coloring supplies to try and perfect her drawing. I’m dubious about whether or not facial recognition will actually accept something hand-drawn, but I suppose it’s worth a shot._

_I still have a gnawing feeling that there’s something off about this whole situation. Maybe that’s just because of Sue and I’s history. It’s hard to let my guard down around someone who has previously stabbed me in the back, no matter how stretchy my skin might be. She-’_

“What’re you doing?” Sue asked, looking at him quizzically. 

Ralph hurriedly closed the book in his hands. It wasn’t exactly that he was ashamed of his journaling, but he had a feeling that Sue would basically never let it go and would tease him about it for all eternity. “Nothing. Did you finish your drawing?”

She held it up for him to admire and he had to admit that it was pretty realistic. “Where’d you learn how to draw like that?” Ralph asked as he took a picture of the drawing and put it through their city-wide facial recognition. Cisco wasn’t there (in fact, STAR Labs was completely deserted at the moment), but he figured he had watched the techy work the computers enough times that he would be able to do it himself. 

Sue walked over to peep over his shoulder. “Art classes in college. My teacher said I had a gift but I thought drawing was kind of boring.”

“Of course you did,” Ralph sighed. “Do you know how many people would _kill_ to have the sheer amount of talents you throw so blithely away?” 

Sue just smirked. “So,” she prompted. “Is this facial recognition gonna work or not?”

“You have to give it a second,” Ralph replied, tapping absently at the space bar to see if it would speed things along. Sue’s drawing slowly flashed on the left side of the screen, headshots zipping along at a remarkable speed on the right. “It’s trying to make a match with a picture from police databases all over the state. Then we’ll plug _that_ picture into our facial recognition algorithm that searches traffic cams and the internet and everything.”

“You realize how much of an invasion of privacy this is, right?” Sue deadpanned, raising her eyebrow.

“You’re worried about invading the privacy of the man who tried to _shoot_ at you?” Ralph rejoined, raising his eyebrows right back. 

“Fair point,” Sue admitted, turning back to the screen. She bumped Ralph’s hand out of the way and took her turn pressing on the space bar. “How long is this going to take?”

Ralph let out a deep sigh. “It might not work at all,” he warned her. “I don’t think we’ve ever tried this off of a drawing before. Even one as good as yours.”

He turned away from the computer, knowing it would alert them when it was finished, and wandered over to Caitlin’s desk. Sue followed him after a moment, taking the chance to look around. “I never thought about you working for the Flash,” she admitted, before sending him a grin. “So. Do you know who he is?”

“Of course I know who he is,” Ralph replied stiffly, straightening his spine so he could look down his nose at her. 

“Then who is he?” Sue asked. Her usual coy tone was gone and she sounded genuinely excited, but Ralph had fallen for her acting before. “Tell me.”

“No chance,” he huffed. “For all I know, you’re still eagerly awaiting your next opportunity to take advantage of my generous and hero-like behavior so that you can double cross me for your own gain once again.”

“If you’re _that_ distrustful of me, then why are you helping me?” Sue questioned softly. Her head tilted to one side, hair falling in front of one eye for a moment before she brushed it behind one ear. 

Ralph felt his chest tighten. “I don’t _know_ ,” he admitted, a little more harshly than he’d meant to. “Just..... don’t make me regret it. Okay?”

Sue’s lips pursed for a second before she took a step forward, opening her mouth to speak. 

Then the computer let out a ping. The facial recognition had found a match.

“Wonderful,” Ralph muttered, unsure of whether he was being sarcastic or not. He strode around the side of the desk again and peered forward. On the screen was an almost perfect match to Sue’s drawing, an image of a man with very dark, deep-set eyes and a glowering expression. 

“That’s him,” Sue confirmed. 

Ralph let out a short, incredulous laugh. “I’m honestly a little surprised that worked,” he admitted. “So we’re looking for a Mr. Vayden Marx. He was arrested for drug dealing and harassment but got of with only a few years in jail. Now it appears he’s back on the streets, continuing his old crimes.”

“I’m surprised he wasn’t charged with murder, too,” Sue muttered, glaring at the picture. “What’s next?”

“Now we see if he’s anywhere in the city,” Ralph explained, dragging the photo into the next piece of software and getting it started with a few clicks. “If his face shows up anywhere where there’s a camera, we’ll know soon enough.”

“How long is _this_ going to take?” Sue asked.

Ralph shot her a glance. “Why’re you so impatient?” he asked, suddenly suspicious. “You’re safe at STAR Labs. You’re safe with _me_. What does it matter if we don’t catch him right this second?”

Sue hesitated, and the niggling doubt that been bothering Ralph suddenly became clear. “Why do you want this guy put away so much?” he demanded, taking a s  
step forward. 

Sue, to his surprise, actually took a step back. “Who says I do?” she asked cagily. 

Ralph squinted at her suspiciously. “Sue Dearbon.... _what are you hiding?_ ”


	2. Vayden Marx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I set myself up with this thing where I start every section with an entry from Ralph’s journal. 
> 
> Kiiiiinda not going to do that for this first section because I can’t figure out how. So let’s just call this a continuation of the last scene.

_Previously on Ralph Dibny, PI:_

“Why’re you so impatient?” Ralph asked, suddenly suspicious. “You’re safe at STAR Labs. You’re safe with me. What does it matter if we don’t catch him right this second?”

Sue hesitated, and the niggling doubt that been bothering Ralph suddenly became clear. “Why do you want this guy put away so much?” he demanded, taking a step forward. 

Sue, to his surprise, actually took a step back. “Who says I do?” she asked cagily. 

Ralph squinted at her suspiciously. “Sue Dearbon.... _what are you hiding?_ ”

_Present time:_

“I wasn’t completely honest with you,” Sue admitted as she and Ralph sat together in the STAR Labs lounge area. Sue had a glass of alcohol in front of her and Ralph had his phone resting on his knee, waiting for a notification that the second round of facial recognition had done its job. 

Ralph rolled his eyes at her words. “Why am I not surprised?” he asked, unable to resist glaring at her a little. He might not have been surprised.... but he was still somewhat hurt.

Sue made a face. “Well, sorry if I just didn’t think you’d help me if you knew the truth!” she cried. 

Ralph crossed his arms. “Try me.”

“I was in that warehouse that night because I was investigating,” Sue began. “Vayden Marx has been on my radar for awhile.”

“So all that facial recognition was for nothing?” Ralph asked, peeved.

“No,” Sue said. “I never knew his name, so... thanks for that. He goes by Vayden in the underworld, which I assumed was a cover but is apparently just his first name. I met him a few months ago when we did a deal together. I needed some quick cash and he needed some information, and we made our exchange. But it turned out that my information wasn’t.... correct. Vayden immediately assumed that I’d double-crossed him and he started hunting me down.”

“So why come to me now?” Ralph pried. “After all this time, why just show up looking for protection _now_?”

Sue bit her lip. She reached for her glass but didn’t take a sip, slowly rotating it between her hands instead. “Things have gotten more.... serious,” she confessed. “Threats on my life- that I can handle. I’m moving all the time. I’m almost impossible to track, as I’m sure you know. But Vayden... he found out things about me. About my past life.”

“Your parents,” Ralph concluded. It was a guess, but it seemed like his intuition hadn’t done him wrong.

Sue nodded quickly and her grip on the glass tightened. “He started sending me these.... _messages_. That’d he’d hurt my parents if I didn’t give myself up. So that’s when I came to you. I need him behind bars. I can’t let my life and my choices hurt my parents, Slick. I can’t.”

Ralph let out a long breath and leaned back on the couch. As hard as it was to trust Sue after she had lied to him yet _again_ , now he had almost a more pressing reason to help her. If nothing more, the Dearbon’s were his clients. 

Then again... who knew if this story was even the truth? Sue could have seen Ralph growing suspicious of her and had grasped at the first thing that she could think of that would make sense and play to his righteous side. Someone hurting her? Sure, he’d help her. Someone threatening to hurt her completely innocent parents? He _definitely_ couldn’t resist.

Sue set her glass, still full, back down on the table in front of her and got to her feet. 

“Where are you going?” Ralph demanded, standing himself. 

“I’m... leaving,” Sue replied blankly. “I mean... I lied to you. Again. At this point I don’t even deserve your help.”

She glanced over her shoulder at her escape route (AKA the door), and then back to Ralph. Her eyes seemed suddenly very large. “Thank you for giving me his name,” she said. “And for helping me get this far. I, uh... I’ll see you around, Slick.”

Sue turned fully towards the door and began to walk towards it. Ralph gritted his teeth, trying with all his might to resist. 

But when she reached the far wall, he couldn’t help it. “Wait!” he blurted, hurrying after her with quick strides. He put a hand on her arm, making sure she didn’t go any further. “Just.... wait a second. I never said I wouldn’t still help you. I- I don’t like that you tricked me. Again. And for all I know you could _still_ be tricking me. But... the fact of the matter is that if I let you walk out right now, I will be beating myself up for God knows how long. And I....”

He hesitated and reached up to rub his mouth a second. “If you get hurt, I’ll... I’ll never forgive myself.”

Sue stared at him, eyes wide. “Wow,” she said after a moment. “Ralph Dibny... you are an even better person than I thought you were.”

She stretched up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his cheek before turning and walking quickly out of the lounge area, back towards the Cortex. 

**W / T \ Y**

_‘It’s entirely possible that my day today is the definition of spiraling out of control. But Ralph Dibny, PI, is going to see this through to the end._

_We managed to find Vayden’s location with facial recognition and are tracking him with that. Our plan is to drop Sue into an area where we know Vayden will be. She’ll be linked up to mics and a small video camera and I’ll be on standby, ready to rush in and play hero. Our hope is that Vayden attacks her and she can get the evidence that we need to incriminate him. True, explaining to the cops exactly why Sue just happened to have a mini spy camera on her person at the moment she was attacked is going to be a bit challenging, but hopefully I can take our case directly to Joe and he can give us a hand._

_At the moment, I’m in the car and Sue is inside the mall. She’s going to buy an outfit that doesn’t subsist of my shirt and her underwear.... assuming she was even wearing underwear this whole time.’_

Ralph stopped his entry as he caught sight of Sue, lit by the fluorescent parking lot street lamps with a shopping back slung over her shoulder. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a flowy olive shirt with flared cuffs, and an unzipped grey utility vest. Her hair, to Ralph’s surprise, had styled itself completely naturally as it dried, and now laid in perfect curls across her shoulders. He was once again struck with, if this had been any other life, they might have been a couple out to go shopping. 

Sue tugged on the door handle a few times before giving him an annoyed look. “ _It’s locked_ ,” she mouthed, and Ralph hurried to let her into the car. 

“You look, uh....” he floundered a little, not wanting to come off too complimentary. Any other girl, sure; Ralph would be laying on the blush-inducing charm. But with Sue, that just wasn’t apart of their game. “What’s in the bag?”

If Sue was disappointed at his lack of comment on her new outfit, she hid it well. “Clothes,” she said, looking at him like he was an idiot. “What, do you think I’m going to wear this outfit for the rest of my life?”

“No....”

“Also some makeup,” she went on, and started digging in her bag. “So start driving and by the time we get to Vayden, I’ll be good to go.”

“You don’t need makeup,” Ralph blurted as she pulled down the sun visor and slid the flap to reveal the mirror. “I mean.... you look good. Without makeup. You don’t need makeup to look-”

“Just drive,” Sue ordered him, rolling her eyes and unscrewing the cap on her mascara.

Ralph nodded obediently and put the car in reverse to pull out of his parking spot.

“Thanks,” Sue added softly. 

“No problem,” Ralph replied, and tried not to grin. 

While Sue had been obtaining a real outfit, Ralph had spent a moment plugging his phone into his car and securing their directions to Vayden’s ever-updating location. Now, he followed the on-screen path to the red dot pulsing slowly in a spot downtown. 

“I wonder what he’s doing,” Sue asked contemplatively, leaning forward and peering at the red Vayden-tracker on Ralph’s dashboard screen. 

“Probably just lurking in an alleyway, waiting for someone to knife so he can steal their wallet,” Ralph guessed cynically. 

When they were about a block and a half away, Ralph found a parking spot along the side of the road and pulled over. “I’m going to get up top of a building so Vayden doesn’t see me,” he said, turning to Sue. “And you’re-”

“Going to walk into whichever alleyway he’s camped out in and give myself up,” Sue finished. “I know.”

She craned her neck to stare at the sky. “You think it’s late enough yet? He might not make a move if he thinks people will still be around.”

Ralph checked his watch. “It’s almost ten o’clock,” he reported. “Unless you want to sit in the car and wait, I’d say you’re a go. There’s no one around. He’d have no reason to pass up such a good opportunity to nab you.”

Sue nodded, but she still didn’t get out of the car. “How long does it take you,” she asked suddenly, “to get down from one of those buildings? With your stretchy-ability-thing, I mean. How long does it take?”

“I dunno,” Ralph shrugged. “Fifteen seconds, tops? I let gravity do most of the work if I want to go faster. Why?”

“I just have to wonder if you...” Sue’s voice trailed off to an incomprehensible murmur.

“What was that?”

“If you’ll be fast enough to save me!” Sue burst out, twisting to face him full on. “I mean, this guy has a gun and he’s _angry_ and he’s _been_ angry for months. All these times past, I’ve run and I’ve gotten away but it hasn’t been... it hasn’t been without a cost.”

She untucked her shirt and carefully pulled up the hem. In the dim light coming in front the street lamps and a few still-open storefronts, Ralph could see a knotted scar faintly in the pale skin of her stomach.

“He shot you,” he whispered, before turning his gaze upwards to look at her accusatorially. “You said it was just a graze!” 

“Well, I lied,” Sue huffed. “What else is new? He shot me in the stomach the first time he found me and honestly? I’m not sure how I managed to get away. Now I’m _turning myself in_. What’s to stop him from shooting me where I stand, the second I walk into that alleyway and he sees me?”

Ralph reached out and grasped her wrist. “Me,” he said firmly. “ _I’m_ going to stop him. I promise.” 

**W / T \ Y**

_‘In case, for whatever reason, I die in a few minutes, I’m going to write something quickly._

_Sue is checking all of her equipment and is going to start heading towards Vayden soon. I’m ready on the building above him. Right now, it just looks like he’s smoking and that he’s alone. Hopefully it stays that way._

_I can’t write for long. Sue is counting on me in a way that I never thought she would. Who knew that the spider and the fly could come to work together to best the snake in the end?’_

Ralph tucked his journal into an inside-pocket of his suit and got himself into a crouch. He wrapped his hands around the building ledge, ready to vault himself over the side and to the ground at a moments notice. 

“I’m ready,” Sue said through their com system. Ralph looked up and squinted down the street to see her step out of his car and push her hair back, adjust her vest, and start walking towards Vayden.

“You’re a go,” he replied softly. “I’m right over him. He’s-”

A side door from the building opposite Ralph’s swung open, and two more men walked out. “Sue, Sue, wait,” Ralph said hurriedly, glancing back to her form on the sidewalk to make sure she’d obeyed. She was frozen, hovering between the car and Vayden. “More people just arrived.”

The extra men approached Vayden and Ralph could hear their muted laughter and conversation filtering up to him. Vayden lit one of the man’s cigarettes with his own and he settled against the wall beside him. 

Ralph bit back a curse, looking between the men and Sue again. “There‘s three of them now,” he reported. “You still want to go through with this?”

“I didn’t want to go through with this in the first place,” Sue growled. “But we’re here now. You think you can stop three guys at once, Slick?”

“I can try,” Ralph said dubiously. 

“That’s _very_ reassuring.”

“Yes,” Ralph sighed. “I’ll protect you. I promised, remember?”

“Then let’s go.” Sue’s shape began to move again, coming rapidly closer to Ralph and Vayden. A moment later, she was turning the corner into the alleyway. “Vayden!”

The three men froze and slowly turned to stare at her. Vayden stepped forward. He was shorter than the other two guys but his shoulders were broader and Ralph could see that he had, not one, but _three_ visible guns attached in various places on his person. 

“Sue Dearbon,” Vayden replied. He had a surprisingly middle-range voice for a man of his size, but Ralph felt a shudder run through him nonetheless. He didn’t like the feeling it gave him that a man like Vayden knew Sue’s full name. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I’m here to talk,” Sue said, taking another step forward. Her voice was steady but Ralph was almost positive he could see her shaking. 

Vayden raised his gun and Ralph tensed. “And what’s to keep me from shooting you right where you stand?”

“Go ahead,” Sue challenged. “Try it.”

Vayden cocked his gun, and Ralph swung into action. His legs flew over the edge of the building and stretched out, longer and longer until they hit the pavement. Then the rest of him followed until he was standing protectively in front of Sue.

Vayden started to laugh. “I am _impressed_ ,” he declared, lowering his gun. “I wasn’t really expecting him to show up.”

Then, with one smooth movement that was too fast for Ralph to anticipate, he pulled a different gun from his belt and fired. Ralph prepared himself to rebound the bullet, hopefully to some place that would hurt Vayden and not kill him, but instead he felt a searing pain coat his skin. 

He let out a scream, the pain intensifying in an instant, and fell to his knees. 

Vayden laughed again, stepping up to Ralph’s side. “Then again,” he said. “I’m prepared for everything.”

Then he reared back and brought the butt of his gun down on Ralph’s head.

Everything went black.


	3. Ralph Dibny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter! I've officially completed my first chapter story on AO3. Congratulations to me XD

_Previously on Ralph Dibny, PI:_

Vayden started to laugh. “I am impressed,” he declared, lowering his gun. “I wasn’t really expecting him to show up.”

Then, with one smooth movement that was too fast for Ralph to anticipate, he pulled a different gun from his belt and fired. Ralph prepared himself to rebound the bullet, hopefully to some place that would hurt Vayden and not kill him, but instead he felt a searing pain coat his skin. 

He let out a scream, the pain intensifying in an instant, and fell to his knees. 

Vayden laughed again, stepping up to Ralph’s side. “Then again,” he said. “I’m prepared for everything.”

Then he reared back and brought the butt of his gun down on Ralph’s head.

Everything went black.

_Present time:_

Ralph woke up unable to feel anything but his pounding head.

At first, he thought it was just because the headache overpowered every other sensation. But then he realized he was literally _numb_ from his neck to the tops of his legs, all through his torso, arms and hands.

Panic bubbled up in him like a soda bottle with a mento inside. After struggling blindly against his bindings for a second, trying to bat down his terror, he managed to wrench his eyes open and take a look around.

Ralph’s ankles were bound and he had a foul-smelling gag tied around his mouth, muffling his panicked pants. His arms were chained to the chair he was on by glowing blue cuffs.

Power dampeners. 

Ralph tried to remember what had happened. There had been a gun, somehow he had gotten hurt... he’d been on a roof.... he’d been investigating a drug cartel leader named Vayden with Sue-

_Sue_.

“SUE!” Ralph garbled, his voice barely comprehendible through the gag. “ _SUE!!!_ ”

There was the sound of a deadbolt sliding back and Ralph froze. The door in front of him slowly creaked open, and none other than Vayden Marx himself stepped inside Ralph’s prison.

“The sleeping prince awakes,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ve been out for awhile, stretchy boy.”

Ralph managed to work his mouth enough to get the gag down around his chin. “Where’s Sue?” he demanded angrily. “What have you done with her?”

Vayden started to laugh and took a step back, waving his hand out the door so it’d be visible to anyone standing in the hallway. After a moment of hesitation, a new figure walked into the room.

Sue Dearbon.

Ralph felt his heart sink. “You were in on this,” he realized, looking at Sue with betrayal and hurt scrawled all over his face. “You were in on this the _whole time_.”

Sue shrank into herself a little. “I’m sorry, Slick,” she murmured. “He had my parents. What was I supposed to do?”

Ralph didn’t answer.

“Awww, don’t apologize Suey, you made the right choice!” Vayden said, reaching over to pat her patronizingly on the shoulder. “Besides, without your help I never wouldn’t have gotten my hands on _him_.” His gaze turned to Ralph, suddenly piercing. “I knew that you and Sue had a bit of a... connection. Word gets around about these kinds of things. So I went to her and asked nicely that she help me to capture you. She refused. So I kidnapped her parents and forced her hand.”

“I wanted to tell you,” Sue said, her voice breaking a little. “Slick, I-”

“ _Leave_ ,” Vayden growled, slapping her suddenly across the face. Sue stumbled, taking the blow. “You’ve done your part. Me and my team will forget _all_ about you and your parents if you walk out of here right now and never cross me again.”

Sue swallowed hard, looking between Vayden, the door, and Ralph. Finally she spun and hurried out of the room.

“Wonderful,” Vayden said. “Now that we’re alone, I can continue. See, without Sue’s help, I never would have known how to get under your skin. You’re a _hard_ man to hurt, Mr. Stretch, but there are a few things that will do the trick. I used my element of surprise to shoot you with a very fine needle laden with neurotoxins. Let’s just say that people have felt your pain..... when stepping on a puffer fish.”

Ralph glowered at him. He knew he should be bubbling over with hate for Vayden but in truth he was just angry at Sue. And, honestly, at himself. How had he fallen for those big brown eyes again? How could he have let her _play_ him like that?

Then again. If he _hadn’t_ been here right now, Sue’s parents might be dead. It was an odd way to save a life, but at least he was. Still, Ralph had to wish that Sue had just _told him the truth_. They could have worked together to double-cross Vayden. At this very moment, Sue could be getting the incriminating evidence about him and preparing to break Ralph out.

Vayden took a step forward. “So,” he said. “You ready to get started?”

For a moment, Ralph thought he had zoned out and missed something. 

Then he felt the first punch.

**W / T \ Y**

_‘This might be the end of Ralph Dibny, PI._

_Feeling has returned to my body, but along with that there’s a whole world of pain. If nothing more, Vayden knowns how to deliver a pretty good beating. It’s impossible to tell what he’s planning to do with me. The guy hasn’t even removed my mask. He hasn’t given me any sort of tragic backstory where I wasn’t able to saved a loved one or I got him put in jail. Honestly, I don’t think I even saw him before today._

_Oh, today. What I wouldn’t give to erase today. To be back in my office with the cold wind making the windows creak, feeling stuck inside a cage. Now I’m really stuck in a cage, and no one knows where I am._

_Well. Sue Dearbon knows where I am, but I highly doubt that she’ll be rushing to come to my rescue.’_

Ralph let his eyes fall closed with a sigh and stopped his mental-journaling. Considering he had no way to access the journal still stuffed inside his suit it was more of a way to pass the time than anything else, but it made his head hurt. 

Why had he trusted her? It was a question that was circulating around his brain like a looped railroad track. Why had he trusted Sue Dearbon when all she’d done for their entire time together was trick him? _Why?_

Ralph heard the deadbolt open again and slowly lifted his head. Vayden had left maybe twenty minutes ago- though it was impossible to tell time with any certainty in here. For all he knew, he had passed out without realizing it and it had really been hours.

The door swung open. Instead of Vayden’s hulking shadow, there was a petite, lithe silhouette framed in the hallway light. 

“What’re you doing here, Sue?” Ralph asked, his voice gravely. He was too dejected to even muster up any surprise that she was there. 

Sue walked slowly into the room and shut the door behind her as softly as she could. “I’m break you out,” she said in a low voice, kneeling down in front of him.

“What?” Ralph straightened a little. “What about your parents?”

Sue tapped her shirt, where the tiny video camera they had put on her was still miraculously present. “I think we’ve got enough evidence to get this guy in jail for a long time. Besides.... if my parents need help I’ll know who to call.” She flashed him a smile, thought it seemed a little weak, and pulled a bobby pin out of her hair.

Ralph sat back, watching as she started to fiddle with the locks on his power dampening cuffs. “I’m not going to say thank you,” he said sullenly. “If that’s what you were looking for.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Sue told him softly. She finished with the first cuff and moved on to the one on his left wrist. “Ralph... what I did to you.... I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Is it impossible for you to tell the truth? Ever?” Ralph asked, gazing at her. “I mean, Sue, we could have worked this out together. We could have stopped Vayden in a way that _didn’t_ include getting me beaten with in an inch of my life.”

“I know, I know, I-” Sue broke off and stopped fiddling with the cuff, sitting back on her heels and pushing her hair back. “I was scared, Ralph. I was _terrified_. And yes, I just used your actual name. Don’t get used to it.”

His lips twitched against his will, and Sue twisted the bobby-pin one more time. The dampening cuff snapped open and Ralph let out a breath of relief as he could almost _feel_ his powers flowing back into him. He lifted his arms and carefully massaged his bruised wrists, trying to coax feeling back into his hands.

“What was he going to do to me?” Ralph asked after a moment. “He didn’t even take off my mask.”

Sue shrugged, rising to her feet. “You’re a superhero. No one cares about Ralph Dibny- no offense. But they care about the Elongated Man- and they _especially_ care to get him out of commission. Vayden figured out that I was connected with you and that he could use me to get you captured.... and then sell you off to the highest bidder. I don’t even think he was going to kill you- I guess he’d just let his client do that.”

Ralph let out a breath, shaking his head a little. Obviously, he didn’t _want_ to be sold and killed, but there was a certain amount of pride with knowing that he served enough of a threat to actually be captured for that purpose. 

“We should get going,” Sue said in a low voice, glancing over her shoulder at the door. “If someone passes by your cell it’s not going to be hard to see that the deadbolt’s pushed back. It wouldn’t be great if we _both_ got trapped in here.”

Ralph nodded and got to his feet, but the pulse of pain that came from everywhere in his body made him dizzy. He stumbled forward and Sue caught him by the shoulders, bending a little under his weight. “He really messed you up, huh?” she said softly, reaching up and brushing some of Ralph’s hair back. 

He resisted the urge to lean into her touch and straightened up with some difficulty. “I’m fine. Let’s go.” 

Half-supporting him with an arm around his waist, Sue led the way out of Ralph’s cell. The hallways was blessedly deserted and they made their way to a set of stairs at the far end. 

There was a shout from behind them, and Sue swore quietly and increased their pace. Ralph risked a glance back and quickly spotted one of Vayden’s companions charging down the hallway towards them, thankfully too focused on running to think of lifting his gun.

Ralph gritted his teeth and tugged away from Sue. “We have to run,” he said, preparing himself for a whole world of pain. “Actually... _you_ have to run.”

“What?” she said, eyes wide.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Ralph promised, though he had no way to know if that was true. He shot another glance down the hallway and saw the muscle much too close for comfort. “Go!”

Sue looked between him and Vayden’s compatriot and took off running. Ralph jogged after her, trying to tap into his powers to make his legs a little longer.

But he was still weak from his recent beating and he felt his chest start to burn with the strain. Just a few feet from the stairs and freedom, he stumbled and went down. That was all it took for Vayden’s man to catch up and grab him by the arms. “Gotchu,” he crowed.

Sue, already at the top of the staircase, stopped moving and turned around.

“Go!” Ralph yelled at her. “Get out of here!”

Her entire body seemed to tremble with indecision. Then, at the last moment, she launched herself off the stairs and landed a kick at the man’s face. He went down, knocked unconscious by the full force of her gravity.

Sue landed in a crouch. “Not again,” she said to Ralph, her face pale. “I’m not going to leave you again.”

He was unable to resist a smile as she slipped her arm around him again and they made their way out. 

**W / T \ Y**

_‘So Ralph Dibny, PI, is alive. Currently covered with about a freezer’s worth of ice packs and a curtain’s amount of gauze, but alive._

_I’m in the CCPD. Sue and I made it out of the warehouse (she’s right; bad guys really do use those too much) I was trapped in and got to the precinct by way of Sue hot-wiring Vayden’s car and driving us away. I got the evidence incriminating Vayden to Joe and now Sue is in questioning. I’d be worried, but if anyone can lie, it’s Sue Dearbon.’_

Ralph closed his notebook with a smile. He heard the sound of voices in the nearly silent, deserted precinct (it was almost 2 in the morning) and looked over to see Sue and the cop she’d been talking with coming out of their meeting room. 

Ralph got stiffly to his feet, half of his icepacks sliding and one of them hitting the floor with a somewhat wet splat. “Officer,” he greeted. 

“Hey, Elongated Man,” the officer replied. “You guys are good to go. We’ll need you to come in and testify at Vayden’s trial, though. There’s some forms over their that you can fill out.”

He walked over to his station, probably to keep drinking the coffee they’d interrupted him from, and Sue and Ralph went to do as he’d said. 

“So,” Ralph said in a low voice as he put in a fake number that he’d have to get Cisco to set up for him so the cops wouldn’t figure out his identity. “What did you tell him?”

Sue smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Yes, I would.”

“Tell me who the Flash is and I’ll tell you what I said,” Sue challenged, smirking wider.

Ralph considered.... for like four seconds. “No deal,” he huffed. “How about, ‘tell me what you said because you’ve betrayed me like 82 times in the past two months’.”

“I’ve betrayed you _twice_ ,” Sue groaned. “Don’t be dramatic.”

They finished their paperwork and made their way out of the precinct to stand on the upper landing. “So...” Ralph said, a little awkwardly. “You... want to come back to my place?”

Sue raised her eyebrows. 

“It’s late,” Ralph elaborated, too tired to be flustered by his innuendo. “Or, early, I guess. And we’ve had a long day. I don’t have a guest bedroom but I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”

“I’m good,” Sue declined, glancing at her watch. “I have places to be. But I’ll see you around, Slick.”

She turned to walk away and Ralph felt frustration bubbling up in him. “So, that’s it?” he demanded. “I look for you for months, I help you, I help you _again_ even when you stab me in the back and get me pummeled by a drug lord.... and then you just walk away? _Again_? With nothing more than a ‘see you around’?”

Sue turned back around and grinned. “What, did you want a kiss?”

“Maybe I did,” Ralph huffed, crossing his arms.

Sue laughed and walked back towards him, putting her arms carefully around his neck. “This can’t work between us,” she whispered, their faces so close their noses bumped together. “This whole... cat and mouse thing we’ve begun.”

“I don’t know,” Ralph replied with a shrug, resting his hands lightly on her hips. “I think that we do it pretty well.”

Sue let out a breath, leaning forward to gently brush their lips together. “There,” she said when she’d pulled back. “Now you’ve had your taste.”

She unwound from him and began to walk off again. “Sue!” Ralph called, stopping her one last time.

Sue turned around, looking a little exasperated. “ _Yes_....?”

“I have a weird way with tastes,” Ralph said, smiling. “They always make me want more.”

“Well then,” Sue grinned. “You better brush up on your detective work, Slick. Because I’m not an easy woman to find.”

“I’ll find you,” Ralph vowed. “I’m Ralph Dibny, PI.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh we love a good open/ambiguous ending the finishes with a flourish and the story title heheh

**Author's Note:**

> Lol sorry if that last line was unnecessarily and cringily dramatic. I need to end with a OOOOH WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT kinda feeling.


End file.
